Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney – Review

Published: August 30, 2022

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Series: N/A

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 352 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

Synopsis:
After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling. 

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Oh my, I read this in SEPTEMBER! This is how behind I’ve been on non-ARC book reviews! I’m hoping I can remember a sufficient amount about the book to do a decent review, because it certainly deserves one. This was one heck of a mystery with inspiration by Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

Daisy Darker begins as the Darker family assembles for their Nana’s 80th birthday party at her remote seaside home that happens to be on a tidal island. Of course, as folks begin to arrive, a storm blows in along with the tide which leaves them trapped on the island until morning at the earliest. Daisy, who arrives quite early on, watches as everyone else arrives and her feelings are mixed because the Darker family is full of strife and dark secrets. Her estranged mother and father, her two very different sisters, her beloved niece, and their childhood friend all trickle in and with each family member that arrives, the tension slowly cranks up. IIt heats to an unbearable level when, at dinner, Nana shares her will with the family because you see, a fortune teller once told her that she wouldn’t live past 80 and Nana is preparing her final business. As one might expect with such a shocking revelation, nastiness comes out, and when Nana is found dead hours later when all should have been abed, suspicion is cast in every direction.

 The events are told from Daisy’s perspective and she occasionally flashes back to moments in her childhood which help to flesh out her family members even further. Daisy herself was born with a broken heart and went through many surgeries during her childhood and was often shoved to the back burner. She didn’t get to attend school with her sisters, couldn’t play the way she wanted, and even her parents didn’t seem to quite love her the same way. Her grandmother was the only one who truly cared for her without reservation and her niece Trixie is very close with her as well. Even now, everyone pretty much ignores Daisy…

The tension grows throughout the night, as at each strike of the hour someone else is found dead. I found myself suspecting everyone at one point or another and when the grand reveal finally occurred I was aghast! I harbored suspicions, but discarded them early on and moved on to more likely culprits.

This book was a memorable, shocking book that left me thinking about it for days afterward! Even disregarding that incredible ending, the whole book was so well written and fraught with emotion and family history that I didn’t want to stop listening to it. Almost the entire family is completely unlikable except for poor little Trixie, Nana, and Rose, but even they were not without flaw. Overall, I highly recommend this if you’re a fan of mysteries and/or family dramas and I particularly recommend the audio format which is so well narrated.